


Detective Bridgette

by Sakura_no_Umi



Series: Related verse [5]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen, matchmaker Bridgette - Freeform, mentions of catfishing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-11
Updated: 2020-07-11
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:55:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25205086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sakura_no_Umi/pseuds/Sakura_no_Umi
Summary: Nothing stays a secret from Bridgette including the identity of Ladybug.
Relationships: Bridgette & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: Related verse [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1820368
Comments: 1
Kudos: 58





	Detective Bridgette

**Author's Note:**

> Originally post on Tumblr 3/22/2018. We're here at the first part I ever wrote for this series. As such if you pay attention there are some discrepancies between what Bridgette knows here and in part 4, but we all know Bridgette is a mastermind with an agenda so I think we can excuse that.

Marinette hadn’t meant for Bridgette to find out, but Bridgette was an unmovable force when she set her mind too it. Felix Agreste was all to aware that impossible was only a word Bridgette was aware of, but had never experienced. If anyone was going to discover the secret of Ladybug, Marinette had figured it would be Chat Noir on accident or Alya revisiting the history textbook clue. The last person she had expected was her cousin bouncing on the balls of her feet in the center of Marinette’s room shouting a triumph ‘I knew it’ as the last bits of Marinette’s transformation faded.

Any excuse she tried to formulate died quickly on her lips, as her twenty-four year-old cousin stood there with a gleam in her eyes daring her to try and lie.

“How?” Marinette asked, burying her face in her hands.

“Where’s the fun in telling you,” Bridgette simply replied, as she tried on the latest hat Marinette had created which she had spied on the girls desk.

Marinette only sighed knowing it was impossible to get anything out of Bridgette she didn’t want to share.

“You’re not going to tell anyone are you?” Marinette asked, throwing herself into her chair as Bridgette admired the wide floppy brim of the hat in the mirror.

“And get you killed?” Bridgette asked incredulous, “Of course not. It’s a secret identity for reason, and I know you. If you wanted everyone to know you would have announced it on the Ladyblog much to your best friend's delight.”

“Then why were you waiting here in anticipation to scare me half to death? You didn’t even try to make it feel like an accident.” Marinette asked, as she held a fake blue hydrangea out to Bridgette who tucked the stem under the band of the navy blue hat.

“I just wanted to know if I was right. If I asked you, you would have denied it. I would have know anyway because you are a terrible liar, but I didn’t want you to have the opportunity to play dumb. Felix is infuriating enough as it is, thinking he’s pulled one over on me, but he doesn’t realize how many steps ahead of him I actually am.”

Marinette let out a snort, “Has he even responded to you since he went abroad?”

“No,” Bridgette replied, unfazed pulling a delicate shawl from Marinette’s coat tree and wrapping it around her arms, “But he reads every one of them, even if he pretends he doesn’t. He tells Caitlin in his surly tone, 'that pest sent me another text just to tell she found my spirit animal some stupid internet thing called grumpy cat.’ And Caitlin asks him all innocent like, 'then why do you keep reading the stuff she sends? Why don’t you just block her?’ Then he pretends he doesn’t have feelings and refuses to respond because he can’t admit he enjoys hearing from me.”

“You’re the worst,” Marinette replied, watching her cousin act out the scene in front of the mirror, “when he finds out you’re Caitlin he’s going to be livid.”

“He just can’t admit that he likes me because it would ruin his high school image that he’s never outgrown, and because he would have to stop running away from his problems.” She paused, for only a moment before continuing under her breath, “one of his problems would be better off if he returned.”

“Pardon?” Marinette asked, as Bridgette turned to hand her the hat she had taken off.

“Doesn’t it feel like a weight off your chest that there is finally someone you can talk to about your secret identity problems?”

Marinette stared at Bridgette as she waltzed around the room hanging the shawl back up and stopping to peer at the pictures hung on her wall. “You’re deflecting.”

“Do you think Adrien is happy?” Bridgette asked, peering closely at one of the many modeling photos.

“Wh-Wh-why do you ask?” Marinette responded, leaping out of her chair, face betraying her.

Bridgette didn’t turn around, but Marinette knew she was making a note of something. Of what she wasn’t sure, but she’d told her cousin before about the boy she was madly in love with hadn’t she?

“It must be hard being famous especially at so young an age. Sure he looks happy in all these pictures but if you really look you can see it doesn’t reach his eyes. It makes you wonder what kind of life he’s living outside these pictures.”

Marinette came to stand next to Bridgette trying to see what her cousin saw. He looked no different than he did at school, but yet Bridgette was right. There was something about his eyes that betrayed him, something that she didn’t notice because she saw it all the time. As if knowing that whatever comfort he found at school or with friends was fleeting, as if there was something missing from his life that had never been filled.

“He lost his mother last year,” Marinette spoke, softly.

Bridgette hummed in response, and Marinette would give anything to know what was going through her brain as she remained so collected and indifferent.

“He doesn’t have a lot of freedom either. Nino wanted to throw him a birthday party, but his father wouldn’t let him. I don’t know exactly what happened but Nino ended up becoming akumatized because of the incident. His life is also perfectly scheduled out.”

“Nino?” Bridgette questioned, turning to look at her cousin.

“Didn’t I tell you? Adrien goes to my school. We’re in the same class, not that it does me any good because I can’t get a single word out around him.” Marinette finished, with a sigh.

“Oh my god. Oh my god,” Bridgette started bouncing, barely able to contain her excitement, “Marinette you like him don’t you. Oh this is so cute! I can totally help you talk to him.”

“No offense, Bridgette, but I’m not sure your method of getting a boy to notice you works.”

“Felix thrives on making everything difficult, besides that method wouldn’t work for you or Adrien anyway. It far more important that we help you make coherent sentences first.”

“Alya’s tried,” Marinette moaned, “I’m hopeless.”

“Well you certainly are with that attitude,” Bridgette agreed. “Let’s go get some ice cream and I’ll teach you the first thing about talking to boys.”

“I can talk to any boy just fine,” Marinette corrected, “It’s just Adrien that I can’t talk to.”

“That’s because you like him, and honestly I can’t blame you. Now where’s a fun hat that I can wear around town?”

Marinette sighed, knowing she was fighting a losing battle. She grabbed a red cloche hat with a purple ribbon to which Bridgette squealed in delight and removed her pigtails. She hadn’t had an opportunity to hang out with her cousin since becoming Ladybug, but she wasn’t sure she was ready for a high energy afternoon of hanging out with Bridgette after stopping an akuma. Conversations with her cousin already held multiple layers and she was already exhausted trying to figure out why Bridgette was so interested in Adrien. Marinette didn’t think Bridgette would even spare a passing glance for any guy who wasn’t Felix.

As much as communicating and keeping up with her cousin was an art, Bridgette was right. It was nice to have someone she could go to with any problem. Chat Noir was her friend and would listen to her, but there were some things that played too close to both Ladybug and Marinette for her to discuss with either him or Alya.

It also helped that she knew her secret was completely safe with Bridgette. In fact Marinette was sure there had been several secrets dangling just out of her reach this afternoon, all artfully deflected and no guesses as to what they could even be.


End file.
